Colorado Eagles April 3 Stars and Season Farewell

The Colorado Eagles season has concluded but a few remain as Black Aces.

This is our last installment to recognize standout Colorado Eagles performances for the 2023-24 season because this is also a farewell as the Eagles did not win their postseason play-in series and now their season has concluded. Also worth noting their ECHL affiliate Utah Grizzlies did not qualify for the playoffs and are done playing as well.

In the month of April the Eagles were busy with 10 regular season games in which they settled to a 5-5-0 record which also necessitated a dramatic final regular season Game 72 must-win to keep home ice for the play-in. The Eagles were successful with a 6-3 victory over Ontario and then ended up hosting the Abbotsford Canucks for a quick best-of-three series.

However, in that meeting with the Canucks things got serious in a hurry when the Eagles dropped Game 1 by a score of 4-2 and forced a must-win situation for the rest of the series. Game 2 saw the Eagles prevail 5-4 in overtime in dramatic fashion but the heroics didn’t continue as Colorado fell 2-1 in Game 3, which also needed overtime to settle. Overall, the Eagles’ season was satisfactory as the team was competitive and got to host a quick postseason series but once again dynamic scoring eluded the team and they had to rely on their goaltenders too much at times.

As far as standouts for April and the short postseason they are:

First Star – D Sam Malinski – 6GP: 0G, 7A, 7P and 3GP: 0G, 2A, 2P

It was a pretty sleepy second half season for Sam Malinski following his last demotion from the Avalanche and then he suffered a minor injury in March but it was a strong return for him to close out the season. His seven points in six games helped the Eagles secure that home play-in and then it appeared Malinski scored that tying goal late in Game 3, which eventually went to Brad Hunt, to give the team one last shot at moving on. It was the final Eagles goal of the season in which was likely Malinski’s final game in the AHL as his waiver exemption will have concluded next season.

Second Star – RW Nikolai Kovalenko – 4GP: 1G, 2A, 3P and 2GP: 1G, 0A, 1P

It took forever for Nikolai Kovalenko to hit North American ice but when he did it was apparent why the six-year wait was worth it. Kovalenko scored in both the pivotal Game 72 and also in the play-in game the Eagles won before finally getting the call to join the Avalanche. His play with the puck, physicality and tenacity around the net were easy to see as standout traits. Hopefully Kovalenko stays on the Avalanche for good from here on but in a waiver exempt year it might be tempting for the organization to do some back-and-forth shuffling with him.

Third Star – LW Riley Tufte – 10GP: 4G, 2A, 6P and 3GP: 0G, 1A, 1P

Riley Tufte led the Eagles with 23 goals and was the only player on the team to surpass 20 for the season so it’s no surprise he finished strong with four goals in the month of April, although the play-in was a bit quieter. Despite not playing for the Avalanche since November, Tufte has been a good soldier for the Eagles but is likely to move on as he is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Now some of the Eagles will stick around as “Black Aces” as possible depth options for the Colorado Avalanche in their playoff pursuits as they move on to the second round. Nikolai Kovalenko received the call up to the team following his NHL debut before Game 3 and another forward in Chris Wagner was recalled before the Game 5 trip to Winnipeg and are still with the team.

Additional reinforcements were named following the Eagles last game but it remains to be seen if they will get in a game with the NHL squad. They are forwards Freddy Olofsson, Jean-Luc Foudy and Riley Tufte, defensemen Sam Malinski, Brad Hunt, Keaton Middleton and Jack Ahcan as well as goaltenders Trent Miner and Ivan Prosvetov already joining Arvid Holm who served as emergency goaltender the last couple of games. Perhaps the Eagles can live on if any of these remaining players make it into the Stanley Cup playoffs.